Tsunami Alert Issued Following Volcanic Eruption in Indonesia, Thousands Advised to Evacuate
Indonesian authorities issued a tsunami warning on Wednesday after eruptions at Ruang Mountain propelled ash thousands of feet into the air, prompting officials to instruct more than 11,000 individuals to vacate the area. The volcano, situated on the northern side of Sulawesi Island, has experienced at least five significant eruptions within the past 24 hours, as reported by Indonesia’s Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation. Consequently, authorities raised the volcano alert to its highest level.
Earlier on Wednesday, approximately 800 residents had already evacuated the area. With Indonesia being an archipelago of 270 million people and housing 120 active volcanoes, it remains highly susceptible to volcanic activity due to its location along the “Ring of Fire,” a region marked by a horseshoe-shaped series of seismic fault lines encircling the Pacific Ocean.
Tsunami Alert Issued Following Volcanic Eruption in Indonesia, Thousands Advised to Evacuate
Authorities have urged both tourists and residents to maintain a distance of at least 6 kilometers (approximately 3.7 miles) from the 725-meter (2,378-foot) Ruang volcano. Concerns persist that a section of the volcano could collapse into the sea, potentially triggering a tsunami, reminiscent of the 1871 eruption incident. Tagulandang island, positioned northeast of the volcano, faces renewed peril, prompting the evacuation of its inhabitants.
Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency has outlined plans to relocate residents to Manado, the nearest city on Sulawesi Island, accessible via a six-hour boat journey. The precautionary measures come in the wake of the 2018 eruption of Indonesia’s Anak Krakatau volcano, which resulted in a devastating tsunami along the coasts of Sumatra and Java, claiming the lives of 430 individuals, following the collapse of portions of the mountain into the ocean.